Page 28 of Catch a Tiger

It didn’t matter. There was too much blood and the way it lapped against her toes was even more disturbing than the deafening silence.

“No, I don’t like how warm it is.” Vix pushed Mylo off of her and ran back to her autumn tiger—Rune. “Can’t we wait until it’s night?” When it would be too dark to see whatever was in the center of that bloody lake.

Vix wrapped her arms around Rune’s neck and buried her face in his fur, needing the comfort of his scent to offset theunsettling nothing of that clearing. Berries and woodsmoke curled around her…and somethingprofoundthat reminded her of rich, dark chocolate with its bittersweet taste.

It gripped her hard and she hid her face in his fur so they didn’t see how her eyes shifted, or the way her canines suddenly lengthened when she was almost destroyed by the urge to sink her teeth into his throat and claim him.

So…this was what that felt like.

One of these tigers was definitely hers and now she couldn’t just abandon him, could she? Vix would have to brave that garden of death if she wanted a chance to?—

“We can’t wait until it’s night,” the alpha growled, interrupting her thoughts. “The witchling is in there waiting for us.”

The panic and fear from earlier was gone, washed away by the scent ofmatesurrounding her. She ducked her head under Rune’s and crouched down, resting her hands on her knees as she pressed her back against his front legs so his head loomed over her – her mate’s shadow covering her like a protective blanket.

Eyeing the clearing again, she saw there wasn’t any blood at all and her feet weren’t bare. No, she was still wearing her hunter’s boots.

Gritting her teeth, she tried not to fixate on that strange vision when one of these tigers was hermate. These three…their scents were so intertwined she would need to carefully choose what games she would play with them.

The tiger’s raven circled above and Vix ignored her as she studied the house. There was a witchling in there. It had been a long time since she’d seen one. Was the dark magic warding this place hers?

“A witchling?” She wondered what kind.

“Yes,” the alpha said, his irritation fading away. It shifted into curiosity, and she liked that scent better. “A witchling, like you.”

She jolted, dropping her gaze to the glyph on the back of her hand. “Like me?” She was pretty sure it wasn’t the same, but she couldn’t remember exactly why. The witch who lived in her eyrie didn’t understand Vix’s magic, but she’d taught her other things.

“You used magic.” The alpha tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing. “Didn’t you?”

“My magic doesn’t smell like your charms,” Vix countered. “It’s different.”

No one seemed to know what to say to that and the following silence was uncomfortable. Vix bit back a sigh and studied the alpha, who looked ready to drag her into his dwelling by force.

But he wasn’t.

It was obvious even to someone as deeply connected to their animal as her that these three needed her for something, but she wouldn’t figure out what it was if she didn’t go in that house. They’d politely ignored her hunting grounds as well as the blood-splattered fur she wore.

They’d even brought her to this dead place like they really, truly planned to claim her, but all three of them weredangerous. She could scent it under their humanity, roiling like the clouds did sometimes.

All of them her mates – or so they said.

They wouldn’t be able to confirm it since she didn’t possess a scent, which made her wonder why they were so eager to have her here. They had to bedesperate.

Running here had given her the time to consider what games she’d play with them, and how she’d manage her lack of scent with three tiger shifters who thought she was their mate.

If she wanted to confirm the witch’s declaration, she had to get close enough to all of them to scent it.

Autumn…he was definitely hers. She’d already caught the scent of mate on his fur. Out of the three of them, it was easy to see how much more open he was to accepting her touch and his eyes rarely left her.

But the others?

Mylo had so many sharp edges. The scars all over his body looked like someone had ripped him apart and then put him back together again. They called to her like the whispers on the wind despite the warning they so obviously were.

That one kept taunting her with things she wanted, like somehow heknewexactly what she liked despite how much he despised her lack of scent.

And the alpha? He didn’t like her at all, but she couldn’t say why, and a gut feeling told her it wasn’t because of what he’d seen—maybe a little, but it was more than that.

So…what game should she play to tug on their shifter instincts? Vix needed to offset their distrust that her lack of scent always incited, especially with the apex predators.

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